Herders’ Satisfaction To Grassland Ecological Bonus Policy And The Influencing Factors To Behavioral Response

Since 2011,China has implemented the Grassland Ecological Protection Subsidy and Incentive Policy(hereinafter referred to as"Grassland Ecological Subsidy and Incentive Policy"),which aims to control the degree of overload of herdsmen and protect the grassland ecology through economic incentives and regulatory constraints.The policy has been carried out for 2 rounds so far,and its implementation effect has attracted much attention.Herders are the main target of compensation in the grassland ecological bonus policy,and are also direct participants in grassland ecological protection.The policy satisfaction of herders is an important reflection of the policy implementation effect,and their behavioral response to the policy directly affects the policy implementation effect.This study takes Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County(hereinafter referred to as Tianzhu County)in Gansu on the northeastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as the study area,combines statistical data,remote sensing data and 235 herding household sample data to analyze the implementation of the grassland ecological compensation policy in the county,and constructs a multivariate ordered logit model at the herding household level to further identify the key variables affecting herders’policy satisfaction,combines the number of grazing days,forage The binary logistic model was used to investigate the factors influencing herders’behavioral responses in order to provide scientific references for the improvement of policy effects.The main results obtained from the study are as follows:(1)The two rounds of grassland ecological compensation policy in Tianzhu County have received a total of 566 million yuan from the central government,with funds benefiting 43,400 households and 174,000 people,and as of 2020,Tianzhu County has successfully implemented two rounds of grassland ecological compensation policy,with the policy covering 19 townships within the county,implementing a total area of 391,400 hm~2of grassland ecological compensation,with the average household receiving subsidies of 1128 Yuan/year.The implementation of the policy has achieved certain results.Tianzhu County grassland overall recovery trend,NDVI overall growth of 0.07.Regional economic growth,herders income increased.Compared with 2011,in 2020,the total regional output value of Tianzhu County has quadrupled,the rural per capita net income has quadrupled,and the average household income of the herders interviewed has increased by 81,678 yuan.Policy safeguards have consolidated the results of poverty eradication,grassland fencing has facilitated village harmony and liberated pastoral labor.However,the policy practice also reflects some common and individual problems,such as insufficient standard differentiation,lack of supervision,imperfect supporting guarantees,and poor policy publicity.(2)The mean value of herders’policy satisfaction is 3.42(very satisfied is 5),and80%of the herders interviewed are satisfied with the grassland ecological bonus policy.Further analysis of the influencing factors shows that the factors affecting herders’policy satisfaction are complex and multidimensional,mainly including literacy,family income,borrowing situation,herding training,income from grassland subsidies,grassland ecological restoration,supervision strictness,and life satisfaction.Six variables,including family income,borrowing situation,whether to participate in herding training,income from grassland subsidies,grassland ecological restoration,and life satisfaction,positively contributed to herders’policy satisfaction;literacy and supervision strictness were negatively related to herders’policy satisfaction;the lower the literacy,the weaker the supervision,the higher the herders’satisfaction.(3)Herders’behavioral response to the grassland ecological subsidy policy is manifested as a balance between grass and livestock.The data indicates that 47.6%of the surveyed herder households in Tianzhu County responded to the policy,while more than half of the households still remained in an overgrazing state.The factors influencing herders’behavioral response include gender,health condition,family size,presence of village cadres,total household expenditure,non-pastoral income,perception of the subsidy standards,policy awareness,and perception of surrounding overgrazing.Among these factors,gender,total household expenditure,non-pastoral income,policy awareness,and perception of surrounding overgrazing have a positive impact on herders’behavioral response.On the other hand,health condition,family size,and perception of the subsidy standards have a negative impact on herders’behavioral response.Based on the above results,this study puts forward five suggestions:first,to optimize the compensation and reward model and clarify the reward and punishment criteria;second,to strengthen the policy propaganda and gather ecological consensus;third,to improve the regulatory effectiveness and help long-term policy implementation;fourth,to encourage technological innovation and the transformation of achievements,to guide the transformation and upgrading;fifth,to improve the guarantee mechanism and reduce livelihood risks.